Submission deadline: April 5, 2026 (at midnight)
Contact with selected applicants: April 27, 2026
Interviews with selected applicants: May 11–15, 2026
(held online for foreign-based applicants)
Notification of acceptance: June 1, 2026
Start of research: September 2026
Nine-month scientific review panel: June 2027
Completion and doctoral defense: September 2030
The Curatorial Research Collective (CRC) invites doctoral research proposals that investigate the construction of architecture culture, with particular emphasis on social, economic, political, and cultural systems.
The programme seeks to extend the investigation of architecture culture through doctoral research projects that may question the work of formal and informal institutions shaping architecture culture (such as museums, archives, centers, groups, movements, …), or probe initiatives that occupy the intersection of architecture and society (such as exhibitions, biennales and triennales, books, journals, public discussions and programs, support policies, new media, …), or address any other pressing issue that has shaped architecture culture.
Innovative proposals that productively collide theory and practice are especially encouraged—particularly those that reveal, rather than smooth, the breaks, difficulties, tensions, and discontinuities within architecture culture, in both its historical and contemporary condition.
Requirements
To be eligible, applicants must have previously completed a Master degree (or will have completed by the time the doctoral research is to be initiated) and provide evidence of distinguished academic work either in architecture (or its related fields) or in the intended research topic. Applicants must also provide proof of an excellent command of both spoken and written English.
Applications will be assessed on the basis of the quality of the applicant, the quality, originality and potential impact of the proposed research, as well as how these fit within the Curatorial Research Collective stated goals.
While TU Eindhoven does not provide direct financial support (and candidates must demonstrate their ability to support themselves during the period of their PhD research), the Curatorial Research Collective may assist applicants in securing individual grants or fellowships.
Position
Upon acceptance, doctoral research will begin at the start of the following academic year with a nine-month trial period. Upon this period, the candidate will present his/her work to a review panel tasked with assessing the quality and rigor of the work developed thus far and the candidate’s plans for the following three and a half years of research (the entire doctoral research is expected to be completed within four to four and a half years).
Accepted PhD candidates will conduct advanced independent research on their topic supported by a daily supervisor as well as other members of the Curatorial Research Collective and the Chair of Architecture History and Theory. PhD candidates are expected (and supported) to present their research and results through journal and magazine articles, conference papers, as well as public symposia and exhibitions. Opportunities for teaching research seminars and studios might be available for advanced candidates.
Researching remotely
Do you still have any questions? check our FAQ or contact us.
Starting from 2021, it has become possible to follow the CRC doctoral program either in the Netherlands or remotely (with supervision being conducted online). While this choice is at the discretion of each applicant, it is important to note that remote candidates will be required to travel to Eindhoven twice a year to participate in intensive workshops, present their work and develop collective projects, as well as to fulfill the University’s various formal requirements for doctoral degrees. These week-long stays in Eindhoven will take place every six months.
For the academic year of 2026-27, these have been scheduled for:
January 11-15, 2027
June 14-19, 2027
